Product accumulation systems are routinely used in conjunction with conveyors for the storage and accumulation of product which is fed from an upstream source onto conveyors. In the normal operation of this type of system, product is placed on a conveyor at the upstream location, for instance at one operational station, and then transported to a downstream destination by conveyor where the next step in the manufacture or distribution of the product is to be accomplished.
In the past, it was not uncommon that during this process, there may be a disruption at a downstream location caused by a malfunction of machinery, some constraining problem, or other circumstance which prevents downstream machine from accepting products. Continued operation of production upstream may result in the build-up of line back pressure which could cause a further problem in permitting the unrestricted movement of product. However, if such a disruption is one which can be addressed relatively quickly, upstream product which normally would be transported to the malfunctioning location, can be received and temporarily stored by an accumulator which is integral to the system.
Product disruptions problem have been effectively addressed in conveyor/accumulator systems by the unique product conveying and accumulation system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,287. However, while this system operates efficiently to eliminate product disruptions for products and their containers of many sizes, shapes and stability characteristics, disruptions in the movement of containers of certain configurations are more difficult to eliminate. In particular, many bottles or containers which are rectangular in shape, that is have flat front, back and sides meeting at right angle corners, tend to get rotated out of their proper product alignment, as they move through the system. These aberrant containers tend to tip over or otherwise impede the movement of train of containers, thus causing the costly disruption.